Hi Ozbargainers. I have very large calf and thigh muscles compared to the average female, and I would say that my calves are bigger than many men I see at my gym - although it's currently a mix of fat and muscle. This was also confirmed by a body scan I had done when I first joined the gym (although I don't have the results from it :( ). My usual routine consists of weights training for my upper body, followed by walking lunges, squats and stairmaster for my legs, and lastly abdominal training on the floor. I've also been attending some group classes which consist of a mix of weights, cardio, squats and lunges.
How can I lose leg fat without bulking up the muscles, and is it possible to maybe simultaneously shrink(?) or slim the leg muscles?? Having really big leg muscles has always been on my mind and often lowered my self esteem, especially when taking group photos where everyone's entire bodies are visible. When I first joined the gym, I asked for advice in this area and was told to try the stair master machines, as well as doing lunges and squats, but Google results seem to lean more towards ellipticals/treadmills?? So I'm just slightly confused.
Would appreciate any advice :)
How to lose leg fat without bulking up muscles?
Last edited 10/04/2017 - 21:25
Comments
You probably shouldn't do this, but for academic purposes, to lose muscle you would need to eat less food energy, less protein and exercise less.
Losing muscle can be difficult. To lose leg muscle you'd need to exercise your legs less. Generally losing body weight would be a practical method. Less practical but more effective would be to walk less — use a wheelchair even.
When I first joined the gym, I asked for advice in this area and was told to try the stair master machines, as well as doing lunges and squats,
These would all be counterproductive to this pursuit. From your body description, it is likely that you have a genetic predisposition to large leg musculature. blue-dinosaur has covered this issue brilliantly below.
Finally, don't give much credence to the body scan you had in the gym, most of them are wildly inaccurate.
There's no such thing as spot reduction. Where you deposit fat and where you burn it off, is largely determined by genetics. Any calorie-burning cardio will work, but don't expect targeted reduction. If you don't want to put on muscle (though, you probably should if you want to tone up), then tweak your diet for a caloric deficit.
Correct.
If you are male, the first places the body will usually deposit fat is in the gut (hence, men quickly get pot bellies), waist, upper thighs and buttocks. A little will also appear on the chest… so you get man boobs.
If you are female then it also goes to the aforementioned places, but with a bias to below-waist regions, and also breast region, upper fore-arms and the neck!
When you reduce your body fat percentage your body's genetics decides which areas will go first. You don't get to choose which parts slim first (unless you want to delve into liposuction)
I wish I could store fat in my calves.
It all goes to my booty. ><
If you don't want to put on muscle (though, you probably should if you want to tone up),
"Toning" doesn't exist. It's just a neologism devised in the 70s to market bodybuilding to women who were/are intimidated by musculature.
Tone is just the appearance of firm muscle, which is a combination of losing subcutaneous fat, and building up underlying muscle. Of course it exists.
a combination of losing subcutaneous fat, and building up underlying muscle.
That's bodybuilding!
Of course it exists.
Excuse my ellipsis:
*"Toning" doesn't exist as a discrete phenomenon from bodybuilding.
@Scrooge McDuck: Splitting hairs. Ask nutritionists, PTs, actual bodybuilders, or even laymen to define 'bodybuilding,' and you'll probably get a description of the images on the bodybuilding wiki, while 'tone' will more-or-less be 'implies leanness in the body (low levels of body fat), noticeable muscle definition and shape, but not significant muscle size ("bulk").'
Ask nutritionists, PTs, actual bodybuilders, or even laymen to define 'bodybuilding,' and you'll probably get a description of the images on the bodybuilding wiki,
Probably? Why would anyone describe images when asked to define a concept? You're weaselling out of your own argument. 🙄
The first sentence of the article you linked to defines bodybuilding: "Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's musculature."
while 'tone' will more-or-less be 'implies leanness in the body (low levels of body fat), noticeable muscle definition and shape, but not significant muscle size ("bulk").'
That was pretty disingenuous to only quote the first line and ignore the next two:
"Research and basic anatomical knowledge implies that the notion of specific exercises to improve tone is unfounded. Exercises can aid fat loss or stimulate muscle hypertrophy, but cannot otherwise improve tone. The size of the muscle can change, as can the amount of fat covering the muscle, but the 'shape' cannot.
Appearing "toned" is a common fitness goal, particularly associated with women."
Notice the double quotation marks around "toned" and the fact that the Toning exercises and Spot reduction pages refer to each other exclusively in the See also section. Thanks for providing another article which supports my argument and not yours. 👍
Probably? Why would anyone describe images when asked to define a concept? You're weaselling out of your own argument. 🙄
You're making a pointless semantic argument, because 'bodybuilding' and 'tone' are commonly used descriptors for very different body types. Ask people what a 'bodybuilding' bod looks like, and they'll describe something that resembles Arnie; then ask them to describe a 'toned' one and they'll describe a gymnast's. Tone is the appearance of muscle definition without 'bulk,' which is more commonly associated with 'bodybuilding' culture.
Thanks for providing another article which supports my argument and not yours. 👍
Uh, you're arguing against a point I never made.
I don't believe in specific toning exercises. I thought that would have been obvious as I wrote off spot reduction, and already stated that tone was the 'combination of losing subcutaneous fat, and building up underlying muscle.' Why didn't I quote the next two lines? Because I already agree with them and merely wanted the definition, it wasn't an attempt to trick, if that's what you're assuming.
I suggested that the OP cut calories, but also build up muscle for toned calves, which is very different from 'bulking up' that she's worried about. Which part of this do you disagree with?
You're making a pointless semantic argument,
No actually you're arguing semantics. I've reasoned that "toning", a verb, doesn't exist as a physiological phenomenon. I think you've realised that your position on this was untenable so you've moved the goalposts to defend the usage of the word "tone [sic]" as an adjective:
because 'bodybuilding' and 'tone' are commonly used descriptors for very different body types. Ask people what a 'bodybuilding' bod looks like, and they'll describe something that resembles Arnie; then ask them to describe a 'toned' one and they'll describe a gymnast's. Tone is the appearance of muscle definition without 'bulk,' which is more commonly associated with 'bodybuilding' culture.
I'll leave the surveying of random people to you. I'm concerned with the facts of physiology not common misconceptions or the descriptors people use. Visible muscle definition is caused by leanness in the tissue (skin and fat) covering the muscle. Referring to this as "tone [sic]" or being "toned" is incorrect. "Tone" is not even an adjective!
Uh, you're arguing against a point I never made.
No, I pointed out that "toning" doesn't exist because you used "tone" as a verb, "though, you probably should if you want to tone up", and you have been defending it since. The article in question supports my argument.
I don't believe in specific toning exercises.
So you shouldn't use "toning", "tone" or "toned" in the context of training muscles.
I suggested that the OP cut calories, but also build up muscle for toned calves, which is very different from 'bulking up' that she's worried about. Which part of this do you disagree with?
The OP wants smaller calves. Building up muscle is the same as "bulking up the muscles" which is exactly what the OP doesn't want, in her own words!
If the OP wanted more defined muscles she need only lose fat, not build up muscle!
I'm not sure you can target fat burning in specific regions. That's why doing ab workouts don't necessarily give you visible abs. If you reduce your body fat in general, your body fat would proportionally reduce in your legs.
I think focusing on any type of cardio exercise would suit your goals more than weight training if you say you don't want to bulk your muscles.
Hope this helps and good luck!Not proportionally. People lose fat in some body parts before others. It could be op loses fat in legs last, so legs never seem to reduce while other areas start to look very trim.
Yes this will likely be the case if its what's biggest on OP (like my belly was still there after losing 12kg).
Incorporate more cardio such as running or swimming.
Continue to increase your running distance each week.
Dont skip leg days otherwise you might look like those guys with a buffed upper body but chicken legs.
The long distance cardio with make you lose weight all over, whilst the weights gives you strength to go further each week.Dont skip leg days otherwise you might look like those guys with a buffed upper body but chicken legs.
But OP wants slimmer legs.
spot reduction is a myth. Simply consume less calories than your body currently requires. Look for a TDEE calculator online and subtract 10-20% from that and aim for that as your daily intake. Track intake with an app like myfitnesspal. Focusing on protein and less on trans/sat fats and sugars in your diet will help with keeping leaner.
Generally its quite hard for females to gain muscle (no testosterone) so focusing on weights wont hurt. The quickest way to lose fat will be a better diet and a calorie deficit. Cardio will help burn some calories (not as much as you think). Cycling, running, rowing. Anything that keeps your heart rate up continuously for 20-30 mins.
This website has all the of basics (calcs, what to eat, what to exercise):
http://ss.fitness/Also drink green tea to increase your body's metabolism.
I like green tea …
nothing speeds up your metabolism. Green tea, coffee and caffeine in general suppress your appetite though
"A study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that green tea-extract increases the metabolism by 4% over a 24 hour period. Three to five cups a day can help you burn an extra 70 calories a day, which adds up to seven pounds a year, 35 pounds for five years and 70 pounds for 10 years"
@Cheapo333:
https://examine.com/supplements/green-tea-catechins/I'm not seeing it having much of an effect? I have not read the sources though.
Generally its quite hard for females to gain muscle (no testosterone) so focusing on weights wont hurt.
Testosterone and estrogen are important hormones for men and women. Both sexes need both and a deficiency of either can cause serious health problems.
Also, resistance training can increase testosterone production in men and women.
Alright thanks Ozbargainers. So eat less and do more cardio :)
You cant do spot fat reductions.
And not all cardio are the same, I would recommend tabata workouts.One I like is
box jumps 20 sec
rest 10 sec
Push up 20sec
rest 10 secfor 8 sets.
Then a slow run of the threadmill for 10 - 15 min. The intensity does not matter for the slow runsecond workout
Sprint training.
warm up 8 min slow run5 sets (or 8 sets) of
30 sec sprint like a rabid dog is chasing you,
30 sec slow run to recovercool down 8 min run.
For either workout, if you do not feel like you are going to die. you are doing it wrong.
Are you Asian?
I ask because it could just be something genetic that you won't be able to change. Quite common among Asian females to have larger calves than Caucasians and other races, proportional to body size. I have it and so does my mother - we've both grown up feeling self conscious at times about it and wanting super slender calves and knees (as weird as that is), but no matter what, we can't change it.
Google 'asian calf reduction surgery' - there's even a freaking market for surgically removing part of the muscle to obtain the look. Insane.
Perhaps the best thing for you to do is learn to be at peace with your body and learn to appreciate your muscular legs. Lots of people out there admire such things, and if it means anything to you there are men who dig bigger calves and find it sexy. Most importantly though, if you're healthy and keeping active, you should be proud of what you look like and try not to compare parts of your body to other people with completely different structures and genetic makeup.
Can't spot reduce, as others have said.
Google 'asian calf reduction surgery' - there's even a freaking market for surgically removing part of the muscle to obtain the look. Insane.
I wonder what they do with the
meatmuscle they remove… 🍲Medical practices dictate that removed tissue be incinerated unless needed for transplantation or analysis.
Starving
kidsadults inAfricaNorth Korea could've eaten that muscle!!Just lightly 'incinerate' to medium-well and it could be win-win.
Hahaha same with me and my mum. I very rarely find knee high boots that fit (only 4 pairs in my whole life) and I can do 100+kg on the calf machine (full sets, not just one rep). At the end of the day… I don't hate them enough to do that calf reduction surgery!
This is a very good point. I am Asian, and my calves are not much smaller than my boyfriend's (who is Caucasian and 6 feet tall!). He wishes for bigger calves and works on them at the gym hoping they'll gain mass but unfortunately for him, big calves are not in his genes, his mum has very skinny legs too. We all want what we don't have, but I just embrace the size of my calves :)
Why would you want to…muscular thighs are soooo hot.
Basically in your situation you want to run a lot. Have you seen runners? Always have very lean bodies, thighs like chicken legs. Throw in a few squats to tone up your ass, which will take the focus off your legs and make things look more balanced. Start with nothing, then gradually add weight. Stay away from things like stair masters - they are only going to build up your calfs.
At the same time you want to change up your diet. I recommend blending up raw vegetables with water, and drinking as much as you can of them so your not tempted by other foods. They also keep you hydrated.
Really don't ever worry about too much muscle. It's rarely ever a problem, for anyone man or woman. Even if you do turn out to be some kind of natural Arnold Schwarzenegger when it comes to legs, there are ways to lose muscle.
Most important thing is to be patient. It will take a whole month or longer for your body to switch into running mode, at which point it will prioritize efficiency of movement and start shedding any weight that isn't essential
^ this.
Basically in your situation you want to run a lot. Have you seen runners? Always have very lean bodies, thighs like chicken legs.
Causation or correlation?
Not everyone can be a runner just like not everyone can be a front-row forward.
Everyone's free to dream though
Do aerobics-style exercise, not weight-lifting. Running, not squatting. Rowing, not chin ups. Cycle, not bench press, etc. If you don't want to exert yourself, do light-intensity exercise, such as walking. Fat is the primary fuel source for low intensity exercise (check out fat burning zone). However, you'll still burn more doing moderate to high intensity exercise.
And control calories.
As another user mentioned, maybe gain some mass in upper legs, maybe not. Up to you. But definitely don't worry about overbuilding muscle. It's not easy to build muscle, and it easy to lose it if you do.
Surprisingly enough, this is a common issue with women who work out. You need to focus on your glutes rather than quads when working out :) search up Abby Pollock or Jen Heward on YouTube! They focus on working butt rather than quads for us quad dominant girls. Hope this helps!!
guy would love to have them calves of your.
My calves are similar to your, they're fairly big and i would say it is genetic. I have been training my calves recently and now they're alot bigger, however i doubt i can make them smaller than what they use to be. Like many have mention targeting weight reduction in a specific area does not exist. You can make certain part more tone or bulky but losing weight is like shrinking a circle.
When people ask how to lose fat in specific areas and nowhere else, they usually are just looking for an easy fix, and can't actually be bothered working out.
fitness and being healthy is a lifestyle.
Wow someone's been digging through the archive from 2017
Stop eating.